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CHANTILLY, Va. — Part of the main terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia was shut down for hours after a suspicious package was discovered near the baggage claim area.

The package was determined not to be a threat and the area was reopened.

The ticket area and baggage claim area in the airport's main terminal were closed for 2 1/2 hours Thursday afternoon after the package was discovered about 4 p.m., but flights continued operating, the airports authority said.

An airport official said a bomb-detecting dog alerted on a package near Baggage Carousel 1 this afternoon. Rob Yingling, a Dulles airport spokesman said four baggage carousels nearby were shut down and one ticket counter upstairs.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Video: Suspicious packages sent to Maryland state offices

Closed captioning of: Suspicious packages sent to Maryland state offices

>>>not far from here in
maryland
tonight, there's a developing story we mentioned at the top of the broadcast. suspicious packages in the mail. our justice correspondent
pete williams
following the story from our newsroom tonight. pete, good evening.

>> reporter: these were packages sent through the mail to state offices in
maryland
, causing a great deal of alarm this afternoon. but it turns out that none of them contained explosives. they were instead designed to spark and catch fire. and surprisingly they contained a message about threat warnings. the first package was addressed to the governor, opened shortly after noon near the capital building in annapolis. then another opened about
15 minutes
later in another
state office
building. this one near the
baltimore airport
. police say the packages were both about the size of a book, that they smoked and caught fire, causing minor burns on the fingers of state employees who opened them. one federal official said they contained a message protesting, of all things, the state's
road signs
that urge people to report
suspicious activity
and this message in the package said "you have created a self-fulfilling prophecy." another official describes the message as relatively routine from a disgruntled state official.
maryland
authorities put a hold on state
mail delivery
today, checking for similar packages. but there is no suggestion of terrorism here, brian.

>>strange and still developing story.
pete williams
covering it for us tonight.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' promise to end by 2015 its massive, benefits backlog for disabled veterans has "stalled," according to an analysis released Monday by a leading veterans' organization.